Installed Wind Power Capacity
Below you will find a brief description of the development and composition of wind turbine installations in China in recent years.
Investment
Investment in China’s wind energy sector amounted to an estimated 24 billion yuan (US$ 3,28 billion) in 2007. According to conservative estimates between 2006 and 2015 around 100 billion yuan (US$ 14,5 billion) will be spent on wind power equipment and component purchases. The enormous amount of investment, not surprisingly, spawned the development of a thriving domestic wind power industry of around 100 wind power equipment manufacturers.
Development of Wind Power Installations in China
The development of growth rates of total installed capacity and capacity additions manifests how the development of wind power has gradually picked up speed since the beginning of the century. Total wind power installations grew by 16% in 2001. Since then, the growth rate of cumulative capacity has persistently grown peaking in 2007 at 127%. The newly installed capacity exhibited even faster growth, peaking in 2006, when annual capacity additions increased by the factor 2,6. From 2003 to 2008, the newly installed capacity has more than doubled each year, reaching more than 12 GW at the end of 2008. For 2009, the installed capacity is expected to have almost doubled again to around 23 GW.
If you look at the development of wind power in China in terms of capacity installed, the exceptional pace of growth also becomes evident. Total installed capacity having more than doubled in 2007 - from 2.600 in 2006 to 5.900 MW in 2007, in 2008 wind power growth lost some momentum. With 6.250 MW installed in 2008, the growth rate of cumulative capacity fell by roughly 20% to 106%. In terms of newly installed capacity China came in on second place worldwide in 2008, only trailing the USA. Reaching a total installed capacity of almost more than 12 GW, China became the fourth largest producer of wind power in 2008, after Germany, the USA and Germany. By mid-2009, another 4,6 GW of wind power had been installed in China, pointing to wind power additions of more than 10 GW in 2009, since the second half of the year is usually marked by the larger part of installations.
The government target of 5 GW of installed wind power capacity by 2010, promulgated in the Medium and Long-term Plan for Renewable Energy Development, was already surpassed in 2007. Now, the revised government target of 10 GW set in the 11th Five-Year Plan in March 2008 has been achieved two years ahead of schedule. The strong growth of the wind power market in recent years has consistently surpassed even the most optimistic expectations of industry observers.
Geographical Distribution
At the end of 2008, the cumulative installation of wind power in China amounted to 12.2 GW, distributed over 158 wind farms in 21 provinces. According to data by Azure International, a consultancy in Beijing, 445 sites have been targeted for development. Most of the wind farms are located in Chinas’ windy north, along with some development along the coast. The wind resource-rich corridor in China’s north, accounts for almost 70% of wind power installed in China. One quarter of installed capacity is concentrated in wind farms in Inner Mongolia alone. Other provinces with significant wind power capacity include the coastal provinces Hebei, Shandong, Fujian and Guangdong.
Size of Wind Turbines
With regard to the type of wind turbines installed in China, the trend towards turbines with more capacity is apparent.Looking at the total installed capacity, the share of wind turbines with a capacity of 1.500kW increased from 9% in 2006 to 18% in 2007, while the share of 600kW turbines decreased by 10%. In the same time the average turbine capacity increased from 785kW to 913kW. The tendency towards larger turbines is even more evident, when looking at the turbines newly installed in 2007. While 79% of all turbines still have a capacity less than 1 MW, 37% of the turbines that were installed in 2007 were MW-scale turbines, i.e. 52% of newly installed capacity was attributable to turbines with a capacity of more than 1 MW. The average size of turbines installed in 2007 was 1047kW.
The largest single unit installed in 2007 was Vestas’ 2 MW wind turbine. CSIC and REpower North are testing prototypes of the same capacity. The Chinese-Japanese joint venture Hunan Hara XEMC has reached small batch production of a 2 MW direct drive wind turbine. CSIC and REpower North also deployed prototypes of 2 MW turbines. While the Chinese wind power market is dominated by wind turbines with variable pitch and speed technology, Goldwind and XEMC have made a significant technological advance by developing direct drive turbines, which have been installed in 2007 and are currently being tested. Goldwind is the only manufacturer in China that has an offshore wind turbine prototype in operation at the moment.
Offshore Wind Power Development
With possibly even larger wind resources offshore than on land, a huge potential for wind power development is waiting to be developed along China’s coastlines. However, the deployment of wind power offshore is by far more demanding than on land, mainly due to the constant exposure to tough environmental conditions. Offshore wind farms present technological challenges with regard to construction, operation and maintenance as well as wind turbine durability. Thus, wind farm construction offshore costs more than twice as much as on land. That is why the exploitation of the immense inland wind resources is first priority for wind power developers in China. Offshore development lags behind in international comparison. Construction of China’s first offshore wind farm (102 MW) starts in 2009 in the sea off Shanghai, north of Donghai bridge. The wind farm is scheduled to pick up operation in time for the World Expo 2010.
